I spent the first half of this week in warm and sunny (yes, really!) Portland before returning home to sub-zero temperatures in Alaska. I really can’t complain because we’ve had an unusually mild winter with only a few stretches of seriously cold temps. My hip was still pretty sore for most of the week, giving me much to worry and obsess about. But when the wave/corral/ bib number assignments for Boston were released this week, it gave me a new dose of courage. I’m running Boston in 36 days whether my stupid old lady hip likes it or not!!
Monday – 8.5 miles with tempo work. Still in Portland, so I ran about 1.75 miles to the track and then did some dynamic stretches and jogged to round it out to 2 miles. The concrete sidewalks on the way to the track definitely didn’t do my hip any favors. Tried to give this workout a good effort without pushing too hard and making the hip worse. Ran first mile on track in 7:27, took an unscheduled 20 second break to regroup and then ran mile 2 in 7:18. Jogged a quarter mile, then mile 3 in 7:24, jogged a quarter mile, then mile 4 in 7:16. Jogged remaining miles home to reach 8.5. I wish I could have done more (and faster) but mentally I was half in / half out of this workout. I still had nagging worries about the hip and not messing things up before Boston, and that kept me from pushing as hard as I could/should. Shuffled home, self-protectingly slow, babying the legs on concrete with short small steps.
Later that day, hiked with the family to the top of Multnomah Falls. The climb felt great, but coming back down made the hip feel a little wonky. My 8 year old thought the 1.25 mile ascent was a piece of cake. Her assessment, ” That was easy because we’re used to Alaska!”
Tuesday – 6 miles (8:55 avg) – Still in Portland, so ran to the track (2 miles there, 2 miles on softer surface. 2 miles back). The sunshine and warmth was nice, but the concrete sidewalks and multiple cross walks really cramped my style (and hurt my hip). I’m thankful for all the paved trails we have in Alaska, even if it is a little (LOT?) colder!
Wednesday – 8 miles (8:38 avg) – Back home in the AK, so got up early and ran on the treadmill. Extensor tendonitis is back in big toe and bugging me again. (Started bothering me after the tempo/track running). It doesn’t hurt that much during a run, just really annoying when I take my shoes off and am walking around. Hip was feeling ok, not as bad as in the past couple of runs (softer surface helps) but still definitely a factor.
Thursday – 4 miles (8:35 avg) – Again on the treadmill. Had to cut it short from 6 to 4 miles because the garage repairman showed up early.
Friday – 5 miles (8:36 avg) – Treadmill time again! Then went to my second ART appointment of the week. The first one (on Wednesday) didn’t make much of a difference, but it hadn’t made things worse either. My physical therapist as well as the chiropractor who does the ART seem to be in agreement that this looks like a labral injury. For the Friday appointment, he (the chiro) tried something different and focused on my back instead of the hip. Something to do with the stabilizing muscles and the glutes firing (I didn’t catch it all). The work he did on my back helped instantly with my hip mobility. It didn’t dissipate the pain in movement completely, but it made the whole side of my body feel more “normal” during movement. Hard to describe, but bottom line, I felt very optimistic going into my long run for Saturday!
Saturday – 20 miles with last 7 at GMP (8:12 avg) – Woke up early and headed to the indoor track. It was -8 degrees when I left the house. I don’t usually mind running in the cold, but I knew I’d never hit marathon pace in those temps. So I opted for 75 laps instead (ran in the outside lanes to try to minimize the turns). Starting out I had all kinds of niggles, especially with the hip. That seems to be my standard operating procedure. First 6 or so miles always feel crappy and I wonder how I’m going to make it through 20. My first 7 miles averaged 8:30. Next 6 miles averaged in the 8:20s, then the last 7 miles I bested my GMP for an average of 7:45! I ran the last mile in 7:20, I think. I forgot all about the hip in those last 7 miles, maybe because my tendonitis toe hurt and I had a new blister on the other foot, haha! But running faster generally does feel more comfortable than slower when it comes to my hip, so maybe that was what helped.
Around mile 15, when I was just starting to hit sub-8:00 pace, one of the other runners at the track asked me what I was training for. I answered “Boston!”, and just saying it out loud gave me a mental boost. I’m running in circles for nearly 3 hours because: BOSTON. I talked with him briefly and he mentioned there were a couple of others there doing the same thing. I found them after my run on the treadmills where they were breaking up their track time, and we exchanged introductions and commiserated on training in Alaska.
I really needed a run like this to help boost my confidence and prove to myself that I belong at Boston. In the back of my mind, I’ve been feeling like a poser, like my training won’t be enough to enable a strong showing in April. But this run helped dispel some of that negativity.
Week Total – 51.5 miles, 2.5 mile hike, lots of PT exercises!
Posted by Basil. Check out more at Salty Running.